Black nail holes and seams

by

Q: I just had new red oak floors installed. They were stained with a natural stain, and then the first coat of water-based urethane applied. When the floors were dry and we inspected them, we noticed an area where the nail holes have bled black, and the end seams are black as well.

What causes this, and what is the fix? Does the entire floor need to be re-sanded?

A: Not sure about the end seams but the nail holes are water and steel. Such holes should be filled first before applying a water borne finish. All things said and done, this is a very difficult job, and what may happen on one site does not always happen on another. If the job as a whole seems good, perhaps you can look at this as an isolated incident. If your particular floor has a high mineral content, that may explain the dark end boards. I cannot even imagine anything a sanding company could do that would be the cause of such a thing, so it is peculiar to your floor.

Related Questions

  • Nail holes with black rims

    we are redoing oak hardwood floors in a 1959 bungalow. When we do this we will be removing a small floating closet that will have nails through the floor. How do we remove the black marks from around the nail holes before we fill them?

  • Nail holes are showing black stains

    Q: I recently bought a house and pulled the carpet off the floors. There were beautiful hardwood floors underneath. I pulled the carpet tack strips off carefully from the edges and filled nail holes with wood putty. I applied an oil-based polyurethane and the floors turned out nice. However, as…

  • Should I be able to see nail holes in my new wood floor?

    Should I be able to see nail holes in my new wood floor? Also they tell me there is no good way to transition to my existing tile entryway because it sits slightly lower. Is this true?

  • Filling nail holes on staircase

    The steps on my staircase are maple. I have already sanded them and I need to fill some holes and polyurethane them. What should I use?

  • Nail holes and moisture

    We just had a 3/4 inch common white oak floor put into the addition of our house. It is way too dark and even after bleaching it is still too dark. We would like to have it replaced. How do we deal with any damage that may occur to the…

  • Removing soft putty from nail holes

    Q: I used wood putty instead of a sandable wood filler on some shelves that I built and now I find out that the putty does not get hard. Ouch, my stupidity I know, but do you know of a way to remove the putty from the nail holes so…